It has previously been proposed to remove dust, soot, aerosols, and other solid particles from exhaust gases resulting from combustion processes, particularly systems using electrostratic precipitation. Thus, it is known to remove dust and solids from the smokestack gases of power plants by conducting the gases, including dust, through an electrostatic field which charges the dust electrically. On precipitation plates, which are electrical field plates, dust which is so charged, is collected. Filter portions on the precipitation surfaces, after some time, are exchanged, or the dust is mechanically removed, for example by a vibration or shaker system, for collection in a catch vessel or container.
Structures of this type have a substantial volume, and thus can be used, effectively, in stationary installations such as stationary power plants or the like. They cannot be employed, however, in mobile or vehicular application.
It has also been proposed--see German Patent Publication Document DE-OS No. 30 41 070--to remove solid particles from the exhaust gas of internal combustion (IC) engines by providing a suitable separating device which splits the main exhaust gas stream into two partial streams, in which one is enriched with solid particles, and the other one essentially cleaned or freed from solid particle presence. The separating device operates on the basis of a centrifugal or turbulence separator. At low flow or stream speed of the combustion exhaust gas, such mechanical separators do not sufficiently effectively remove soot and other solid particles from the exhaust gases.